This history of National Parks was originally Section 2 of ‘Unfinished Business’, the manifesto for National Parks set out by APRS and SCNP in 2012

This section gives a brief summary of the historical development of policy on National Parks in Scotland over the last 65 years or so, as the context for the proposed strategy.  This does not claim to be a comprehensive review of what has been a lengthy and complex story.  All the documents referred to are available on the APRS website.

The Ramsay Report 1947

Immediately after the Second World War, the Department of Health for Scotland (DHS) established a Scottish National Parks Survey Committee, chaired by Sir J Douglas Ramsay and including eminent naturalist Frank Fraser Darling, to advise upon areas suitable for National Parks and to supervise a survey of potential areas.

The Committee reported in 1947, basing its recommendations on the definition of a NP as:

an extensive tract of country of outstanding natural beauty, preferably also of scientific, cultural or historic interest, owned or controlled by the Nation, accessible to all as a matter of right under suitable regulations, and administered by or on behalf of the Nation to the end that its distinctive values may be preserved unimpaired for the enjoyment and recreation of this and future generations

The Committee laid down seven selection criteria:

• Outstanding scenic beauty

• Accessibility

• Preservability

• Recreational facilities

• Educational, cultural and social interests 

• Flora and fauna

• Accommodation 

It was noted that these criteria required beauty to be weighed against accessibility to some extent.  The report stressed that designation of an area as a NP does not preclude the maintenance or extension of economic land uses.  Indeed, it noted that the areas most suitable for designation on account of their natural beauty generally had low levels of economic development and so were in need of additional sources of income.  The phrase “extensive tract” introduced the idea of size as a criterion; NPs were to be large enough for “the Nation” to enjoy and important enough to justify the intervention of the State.  The recommended areas therefore excluded smaller and more accessible ranges such as the Pentlands, Ochils and Sidlaws. 

The Committee recommended the following five areas, in the order given, as suitable for NPs:

• Loch Lomond – Trossachs
• Glen Affric – Glen Cannich – Strath Farrar
• Ben Nevis – Glen Coe – Black Mount
• The Cairngorms
• Loch Torridon – Loch Maree – Loch Broom

The Committee also suggested that the following further areas, again in the order stated, might be placed on a reserve list for later consideration:

• Moidart – Morar – Knoydart
• Glen Lyon – Ben Lawers – Schiehallion
• St Mary’s Loch

The Committee assumed that the land in any NPs subsequently designated would be purchased by the state and would remain thereafter in permanent public ownership.  The report argued that the success of NPs and the tourism industry depended on the preservation of natural beauty, so it was hoped that these benefits would be weighed along with those from the large-scale hydro-electric schemes then being proposed.

The 1950s and 1960s

Several NPs were established in England and Wales during the 1950s, including in Northumberland abutting the Scottish border.  However, in 1951 the Secretary of State for Scotland decided not to proceed with Ramsay’s recommendations.  The reasons for this were complex, but comprised at least three strands.  First, influential landowners opposed public acquisition of their estates and the introduction of additional controls over their ability to manage their property.  Second, there was no significant  pressure from recreational interests for more formal arrangements for access to the countryside, given the effective freedom of responsible access which existed in Scotland and relatively low visitor pressure.  Third, it was difficult to single out specific areas for NP status given the high landscape quality of much of north-west Scotland.  However, to safeguard the most important areas five ‘National Park Direction Areas’ (NPDAs) were established, in which certain categories of development proposals could be ‘called in’ for determination at a national level.

In 1962 a commission by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) led author and mountaineer Bill Murray to identify 21 ‘regions of outstanding beauty’ in his report Highland Landscape, including variations on Ramsay’s recommended areas.  The Countryside in 1970 conferences held during the 1960s highlighted the need for specific powers to promote landscape protection and countryside recreation.  This led to the Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967 and the establishment of the Countryside Commission for Scotland (CCS) in 1968 as the agency responsible for the enjoyment of the countryside and the conservation of its natural beauty and amenity.

Various methods of landscape protection and recreation provision did emerge over this period.  The FC established five National Forest Parks, NTS acquired extensive tracts of mountainous country, and local authorities designated many Areas of Great Landscape Value (AGLVs), four Green Belts and four Country Parks.  However, these efforts lacked both adequate national co-ordination and a comprehensive framework for conservation management.

A Park System for Scotland 1974

In 1974 CCS published A Park System for Scotland,  its first comprehensive advice on its whole approach to its objectives.  This argued that positive action was desirable to develop the existing arrangements for both landscape conservation and recreational development, within a more systematic framework.  

The report identified the need for a comprehensive system combining landscape conservation with provision for the whole spectrum of outdoor recreation.  This would extend from intensive organised activities in small areas near towns to extensive informal recreation over larger, more remote areas.  The report proposed such a system under four categories:

Urban Parks

• not within designated countryside but included to make clear the need to provide for the whole spectrum of outdoor recreation.

Country Parks

 – relatively small areas near to towns, intended to provide recreation, enjoyment and education and to ease pressure on more vulnerable areas; four had already been designated.

Regional Parks 

– larger, more diverse in character and serving larger catchment areas; probably managed by the new Regional Councils.

Special Parks 

– to satisfy national levels of demand for recreation; likely to be in countryside of considerable natural beauty and amenity such as the Cairngorms, Glen Nevis/Glen Coe and Loch Lomond/Trossachs (ie the Ramsay areas).  Management would be by special park authorities, with delegated planning functions. 

The report demonstrated reluctance by CCS to challenge the interests of local authorities or landowners; it preferred co-operation to dramatic change.  It ducked the issue of whether Scotland should have NPs, stating only that this “will no doubt continue to be debated”.  However, it is clear from the description of the proposed Special Parks that they would effectively have been NPs in all but name.

Scotland’s Scenic Heritage 1978

The 1974 CCS report also argued that there were areas beyond those proposed as Special Parks which contain landscapes of unsurpassed attractiveness which must also be conserved as part of our national heritage.  CCS then carried out a review which led in 1978 to the publication of Scotland’s Scenic Heritage.  This listed, mapped and described 40 areas of the finest examples of certain types of landscape for which Scotland is most renowned, again including all five Ramsay areas.  In 1982 these were designated as National Scenic Areas (NSAs) and the NPDAs were withdrawn.  Local authorities were required to consult CCS on certain classes of development within NSAs; where a local authority proposed to issue planning permission against CCS advice the final decision would be made by the Secretary of State for Scotland.

The Mountain Areas of Scotland 1990

The 1974 proposals for Regional Parks (RPs) were finally enacted in 1981 and four RPs were established during 1986-90, but  the proposals for Special Parks were set aside.  However, the issue of whether Scotland should have NPs did not go away, and in 1989 the Scottish Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment invited CCS to “study management arrangements for popular mountain areas such as the Cairngorms, taking into consideration the case for arrangements on national park lines in Scotland”.  After several months of research, consultation and internal debate CCS published its report The Mountain Areas of Scotland – Conservation and Management in 1990.

This report set out the values attributed to Scotland’s mountains in the context of changing land use practices.  It highlighted a slow process of attrition of landscape quality, the lack of an integrated approach to rural land management, inadequate incentives for land managers, poor management of recreation and tourism and the steady loss of wild land quality.  It made a number of general recommendations for all upland areas, including indicative regional land use strategies, promotion of higher design standards, increased protection for wild land and better integration of land management grants.

It also identified four important mountain areas which urgently required special management arrangements to protect their high heritage value:

• The Cairngorms
• Loch Lomond and the Trossachs
• Ben Nevis/Glen Coe/Black Mount
• Wester Ross

It argued that these areas should be called National Parks, be managed by independent planning boards (except for Wester Ross), have land management functions and have local community interests represented on their boards.

Protecting Scotland’s Finest Landscapes 1997

Despite these clear recommendations from CCS, the Government once again did not proceed with the designation of NPs.  It did however establish two Working Parties, which studied potential management arrangements for the Cairngorms and for Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in more detail and published further lengthy reports.  During the 1990s, increasing dissatisfaction with landscape protection in general and the lack of NPs in particular grew within Scotland’s network of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), co-ordinated through Scottish Wildlife and Countryside Link (SWCL).  This culminated in SWCL’s 1997 discussion paper Protecting Scotland’s Finest Landscapes, a ‘call for action on NPs in Scotland’ supported by 24 NGOs.  This paper analysed the problems caused by an inadequate protected areas system, the lack of integrated powers and resources and the history of wasteful and damaging conflicts in some of Scotland’s finest landscapes.  SWCL called upon the Government to establish a network of NPs.

In 1997 a new Government was elected with a more sympathetic attitude towards NPs.  Shortly after the SWCL paper was published, Environment Minister Lord Sewel announced the new Government’s intention to establish NPs in Scotland.  This would be a matter for the proposed Scottish Parliament if Scotland voted for devolution, which it did in the 1998 referendum.

National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000

The National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 was one of the first passed by the newly re-established Scottish Parliament following devolution in 1999.  Section 1 establishes the four National Park Aims:

• to conserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of the area,
• to promote sustainable use of the natural resources of the area,
• to promote understanding and enjoyment (including enjoyment in the form of recreation) of the special qualities of the area by the public, and
• to promote sustainable economic and social development of the area’s communities.

Crucially, Section 9(6) of the Act states:

In exercising its functions a National Park authority must act with a view to accomplishing the purpose set out in subsection (1); but if, in relation to any matter, it appears to the authority that there is a conflict between the National Park aim set out in section 1(a) and other National Park aims, the authority must give greater weight to the aim set out in section 1(a)

Section 2 sets out the conditions to be satisfied for an area to be designated as a NP:

that the area is of outstanding national importance because of its natural heritage or the combination of its natural and cultural heritage,

that the area has a distinctive character and a coherent identity, and

that designating the area as a National Park would meet the special needs of the area and would be the best means of ensuring that the National Park aims are collectively achieved in relation to the area in a co-ordinated way.

The Act also sets out the process to be followed to designate NPs in Scotland and the purposes and functions of NP Authorities, including the requirement to prepare a NP Plan.

After lengthy consultation and designation processes the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs NP was designated in 2002 and the Cairngorms NP in 2003.  In 2008 the boundary of the Cairngorms NP was extended to include parts of Highland Perthshire, in accordance with the original recommendations by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

Coastal and Marine National Parks 2005-2007

The 2000 Act can apply to areas of sea.  In June 2005 the Scottish Executive asked SNH to provide advice on Coastal and Marine National Parks (CMNPs).  In March 2006 SNH submitted its advice, presenting its findings on how a CMNP might operate and on possible areas it might cover.

SNH stated that Scotland has a world-class coastal and marine resource.  It had found support for the principle of a CMNP from some areas and interest groups, while others expressed concerns and reservations.  SNH felt that the designation of a CMNP could:

• enhance the care of an area of high natural and cultural heritage value;
• increase enjoyment and understanding;
• deliver local social and economic benefits;
• provide for greater involvement of local people in decision-making; and
• promote innovation, good practice and integrated approaches to sustainable development.

This approach would be underpinned by the better planning and management of the area and the activities that take place within it.  SNH recommended that the NP Authority (NPA) for a CMNP should initially focus on planning and practical work, using basic powers and functions and modest expenditure. 

A long list of possible areas was identified, based on heritage values and the coherence of defined areas. Most were in the North and West, including many of the island groups. The process of short-listing identified the following as the five strongest candidates:

• The Solway Firth;
• Argyll Islands and Coast;
• Ardnamurchan, Small Isles, and South Skye coast;
• North Skye Coast and Wester Ross; and
• North Uist, Sound of Harris, Harris and South Lewis.

Further work would be required to refine these areas and to consider in detail their seaward and terrestrial extent.

Later in 2006 the Scottish Executive issued a consultation on its proposals for Scotland’s first CMNP, based on the SNH advice and stressing the potential benefits and added value that a CMNP might bring to Scotland.  It presented a detailed summary of the significance of and opportunities presented by each of the long list of ten areas identified by SNH.  Ministers agreed with SNH’s short list of the five strongest candidate areas. Within this short list two areas, Argyll Islands and Coast and Ardnamurchan, Small Isles and the South Skye Coast (or a combination of these two areas) were identified as possible strongest all-round candidates.

The next steps were to have been to decide the preferred location, to develop proposals on functions and powers and to publish a formal ‘proposal’ under the 2000 Act.  However, this did not take place before the elections in May 2007, and the incoming SNP Government set aside the proposals to focus on broader marine policy issues which ultimately led to the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.

Isle of Harris Report 2008

During the early 2000s a group of people on Harris became convinced that NP status would benefit their island, particularly in reinforcing its fragile economy, and in 2008 they commissioned the Isle of Harris National Park Feasibility Study.  This made a convincing case that Harris met the three conditions set out in the 2000 Act, and set out the substantial and sustainable benefits that NP status would bring.  It argued a clear preference for a NP as the ideal mechanism to help focus and encourage future heritage management and community development in Harris.  However, the idea of a Harris NP has so far failed to win support from local authority Comhairle nan Eilean Siar or from the Scottish Government.

National Parks Review 2009

In 2009 the Scottish Government carried out a review of the two existing NPs.  However, the remit of the Review was relatively narrowly drawn, focussing largely on the role and composition of the two NP Boards.  Also, the proposed Stage 2 of the Review was dropped, thereby limiting the opportunity to discuss some of the more fundamentally important questions facing the NPs beyond the relatively narrow range of administrative issues covered under Stage 1.  The Review proposed the establishment of a ministerially-chaired National Strategy Group, but this has not been implemented.

SNP Manifesto 2011

The SNP Manifesto issued before the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections included a commitment to “work with communities to explore the creation of new National Parks”, but as of June 2012 the SNP Government has not yet taken any action to fulfil this commitment.

Conclusion

At no point was it ever decided that the number of NPs in Scotland should remain at two.  The three main reports – 1947, 1974 and 1990 – all came up with the same four or five landscapes of national importance which required special management arrangements, yet only two NPs have so far been established.